


Transcendence of Memory

by Scribo_Vivere



Category: Supernatural
Genre: AU, Angry Dean Winchester, Angry Kissing, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, BAMF Castiel, Canon-Typical Violence, Dubious Consent, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Feathers & Featherplay, Het and Slash, Hurt Castiel, M/M, Possessive Castiel, Protective Castiel, Resolved Sexual Tension, Sensual Play, Sensuality, Sexual Content, Temptation, Unresolved Sexual Tension, Wing Kink, Wings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-12-30
Updated: 2013-12-30
Packaged: 2018-01-06 17:29:38
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1109581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scribo_Vivere/pseuds/Scribo_Vivere
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An attempt to take down an extremely powerful djinn brings more than Dean bargained for, and he soon learns that in matters of the heart and mind, not everything is as clear-cut as he’d wish.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Transcendence of Memory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Remember, I will still be here, as long as you hold me in your memory/Remember, I'll never leave you, if you will only remember me...

 

“There’s been another.”

Dean looked up from lacing his boots to find Sam standing over him with a steaming cup of coffee in one hand and a newspaper in the other, his expression grim. With an irritated sigh, the older Winchester rose, taking the coffee and warming his hands with it.

“Seriously? That's five this week, and it's so damn cold I'm gonna be surprised if my jewels still exist,” he groused.

Wisely neglecting to point out to Dean that it was the beginning of December, Sam replied, “The local cops can’t figure it out. None of the victims knew each other, none of them have a past criminal history, and none of them appeared to have been harmed—unless you count the fact that all of them are spinning tales about how they had a different life for a day,” he added, and that got Dean's attention faster than a Busty Asian Beauties magazine, his head lifting.

“What did you say?”

The expression on his brother’s face let Sam know right away what path Dean’s brain was headed down, and Sam had a sinking feeling this was going to be one of Dean's tougher cases.

“Do you even want to bother with this job? The last time we took down one of these things was over four years ago. We could always hand it off to another hunter in the area,” Sam said, and instantly regretted it as his brother's face turned sour.

“Well, considering I was the plaything of one, and my chief complaint was that I was living another life, it's pretty obvious a djinn is causing this and, oh yeah, we might want to _stop it._ ”

“I just thought...” Sam hedged, and Dean's eyes turned dark.

“Thought what? That I can't handle a damn job because of this?”

Dean held up his arm, and the Mark shone red and angry in the dim light of the bunker. Sam stared at it a little too long, and Dean growled, “This isn't going to stop me from saving innocent people, Sam. Get that through your head. I might be cursed, but I'm not going to let anyone else stay that way.”

Dean had departed from the room before Sam could think of something worthwhile to say.

*

“I already told the police everything,” the girl, who couldn’t have been more than sixteen, said quietly, her lower lip trembling as she stared at the brothers from her hospital bed with vulnerable eyes.

“We understand,” Sam said as gently as he could. “We just need to verify your story. Could you relate it again for us?”

She fingered the thin blankets for a moment, and then said, “I was walking home from dance class. I take ballet after school, and it doesn’t get out until after five-thirty. It’s usually dark by then because of the season, so I’m careful. I was passing an alley when someone grabbed me and dragged me into it. I tried to fight them off at first, but they were way too strong, so then I tried to scream. But then they put their hand over my mouth, and I couldn’t even breathe.”

“Did you see what they looked like?” Dean asked, perhaps a bit too brusquely. Sam glanced at him, but the girl didn't notice, shivering in remembrance.

“Yeah. It was a man—I guess it was a man, anyway.”

Sam resisted the urge to look at Dean. “What do you mean, 'I guess'?”

“Well, he was...really tall,” she said hesitantly, “and he had these strange tattoos all over him. I thought they were cool when I first saw him, but after he attacked me, they were just plain creepy.”

“Creepy how?” Dean demanded, and she twisted the blankets tighter.

“They moved. I know it sounds crazy,” she said stubbornly, “because tattoos don’t, but his did. They looked religious, but they weren't in English. And they gave me a seriously bad vibe. I'm Wiccan, and I know my runes. If that's what his were, then they weren't friendly. They were meant to warn or drive off.”

The Winchesters exchanged a glance, and as they did, the girl said tremulously, “There’s more.” She swallowed hard, tears beginning to form in her eyes.

“After he touched me, he looked into my eyes, and when he did, his own started to glow this crazy blue color. The first thing I remember after that is waking up in my bedroom, and when I went downstairs…” She began to cry in earnest.

“My dad was there cooking pancakes in the kitchen. He turned around and smiled at me, but he died in a car crash when I was ten. I don’t know anything else, I swear I don’t. I just want to go home.”

“After you tell us how you got here,” Dean said carelessly, and Sam was about to call “Agent Young” aside for a talking-to before she admitted softly, “I...it was a dream. I know it was. I was afraid I wouldn't wake up, but something told me to...to...”

“To what?” Sam pushed gently, and she whispered, “To kill myself. I had to kill myself to wake up.”

After a moment of stunned silence from the brothers, she went on, “Please believe me. I'm not insane and I just want to go home.”

“All right,” Sam said softly. “We'll tell them you're ready to go.”

As they walked down the hall toward the nurses' station, Sam murmured, “If this is a djinn, it doesn’t sound like any I’ve heard of.”

Dean, however, shook his head. “I have. Certain djinns that have been around for centuries are very powerful, and what she's describing sounds like we have exactly that on our hands.”

“Great,” Sam sighed. “Do we kill them the same way?”

Lowering his voice further as a doctor passed them, Dean replied, “Silver knife dipped in lamb's blood, Sam. Same method of sayonara for them all, regardless of age or strength.”

As they reached the parking lot, Sam hesitated at the Impala's door. Noticing, Dean snapped, “What now?”

“I think we should call Cas.”

“What? Why?” Dean's expression was like a thundercloud. “Sam, I'm telling you I'm fine.”

“I don’t know, Dean. The last time we went after a djinn, it captured and almost killed you. This one isn't going to be easy to get rid of, and Cas can help us.”

“This is different. I know what I’m up against this time.” Dean threw him a dark look. “And don't play me for an ass. I know you want Cas around just to keep an eye on me.”

“I still think having him as backup is a good idea,” Sam said firmly, and then sighed. “And making sure the Mark doesn't take control of you is always a first-rate plan.”

“We’re not calling Cas, Sam. He’s got his own...his own whatever-the-hell to worry about.”

“I have no pressing issues at the moment.”

Dean spun at the voice, and when he saw Castiel standing beside Sam, his look could have murdered a snake.

“No fucking way,” he spat, but Castiel lifted his chin.

“You have no say in this matter, Dean. You are too volatile.”

Dean spun and strode away from them with a snarl, and Sam watched him go, brow furrowed in concern. His gut was telling him that this wasn’t going to be as simple as Dean wanted to think it was.

*

As they packed their weapons in the bunker's war room, Castiel furtively examined his charge. Dean’s back was straight, and the line of his jaw was set tight. Not for the first time, Castiel wondered what, exactly, it would take to remove the Mark—and how willing Dean would be when that time came.

“Quit staring at me, Cas. I’m not made of glass, and I don't need babysitting.”

Castiel said softly, “I am concerned for you. That is why Sam asked me to go.”

“Just because I had a bad experience with a djinn once doesn’t mean I’m going to fuck this case up,” he said sharply. “I know better than to lose my head.”

“I know you do, Dean.”

“Then what’s the problem?” Dean snapped. “You afraid I'm going to go all The Shining and make mincemeat out of everybody? I'm only bringing the Blade as backup, not so I can go on a killing spree.”

“Again,” Castiel replied quietly, and Sam froze, staring at the two of them with wide eyes. Dean's narrowed as he stared at Castiel, and the angel said, “I know you have been feeding the Mark, Dean. You may hide from Sam, but not from me.”

“I can't believe you didn't tell--” Sam began to explode, but Castiel raised a hand, silencing him and any rebuttals from Dean.

“Now is not the time, Sam. Others are in danger, and we have little time to end this creature's reign of disaster.”

*

The area the djinn had been frequenting wasn’t vastly busy, as some of the businesses had closed by now, and the three took their time as they passed the shops and offices, looking for any sign of the djinn. When they’d reached the end of the street, Dean sighed irritably.

“Just friggin’ great,” he muttered irritably. “Damn genie isn't anywhere to be found.”

“Dean, look,” Sam said suddenly and urgently, pointing. A young woman was walking to her car a block away, and leaning against one of the brick walls near a dumpster, half in shadow, was a figure that was watching her very intently. Even from this distance, the marks on its skin were unmistakable.

“Shit,” Dean hissed, and quickly followed Sam and Castiel behind a nearby large black van.

“I’ll grab the girl, you two kill the djinn?” Sam murmured. Dean only gave a terse nod in response, and quietly, they skated along the edge of the van, keeping a close eye on the victim, who of course had to drop her keys at the last moment under the front tire of her little white Mazda. When she emerged with them in hand, the djinn struck.

Sam leapt into action as she screamed and struggled in its grip, tackling the djinn from behind. Surprisingly, the djinn released the girl (who chose to flee without her car) and lashed out at Sam, sending him tumbling across the pavement in a concussed daze.

Dean skillfully flipped the knife in his hand as the djinn turned to him, and Castiel suddenly had a terrible feeling. Before he could cry out a warning, the djinn had pinned Dean to the wall, the knife knocked from his grip, where it skittered useless across the ground. The man kicked out, but the djinn only smiled, showing his teeth.

“I know where your heart truly lies,” it whispered. Dean's stomach bottomed out. _How could it know?_ he thought, but instantly became more concerned with the moment as it chuckled softly.

“I see whom you desire, and I will give you what you seek above all else.”

The djinn’s eyes began to shine a cold blue, its fingers reaching toward his forehead, and Dean had a split second to scream helplessly in anger and fear before he knew no more.

 

 

 

 

 


End file.
